


Way Down We Go

by Jillian_Bowes



Category: Eyewitness (US TV)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I think we all know what that means for Philip, M/M, Pool Party, Post Finale, TEAM ROSE!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 23:25:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8943643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jillian_Bowes/pseuds/Jillian_Bowes
Summary: Lukas takes Philip to a party at Rose's place.  Unfortunately for Philip:  it's a pool party.





	

**Author's Note:**

> another philkas fic? I'm on fire, baby. hope you like it. (also know that I don't condone underage drinking, but let's not pretend it doesn't happen ALL the time.)

Philip stirred his potatoes around on his plate while Helen and Gabe were busy snickering at a joke they shared.  He didn’t hear the joke, but their banter brought the beginnings of a smile to his lips.  “Like an old married couple,” he spoke up.  They looked to him, smiles still plastered on their faces and surprised that Philip hadn’t remained silent.  “It’s pretty gross.”

Helen snorted and Gabe leaned back in his chair.  “Like you and Lukas are any better,” Gabe joked.  

Philip blushed.  “We are, actually.”  They laughed, and he looked back down at his plate bashfully.  His phone vibrated and he jumped, checking the caller ID.  Lukas was calling.  He turned it on silent guiltily and turned the phone over on the table.  Helen and Gabe shared a knowing look. 

“Oh, go on, answer it,” Helen said, shooing at him.

Philip smiled softly.  “Thanks.”  He excused himself, answering the call and jogging up the stairs to his room.  “Hey,” he answered.

 _“Hey, sexy,”_ Lukas drawled comedically.  

Philip snorted.  “Did you seriously pull me away from dinner so you could seduce me over the phone?”

 _“Don’t tempt me, babe,”_ he laughed.   _“Actually, Rose is having a party tonight.”_

Philip sat down on his bed.  “Oh, yeah, that’s fine.  Just don’t get too messed up.”

_“Huh?  No, dummy.  Rose invited both of us.”_

Surprised, he leaned back against the headboard.  “Oh.”

 _“Yeah._ ‘Oh.’ _So, are you in?”_  When Philip didn’t respond right away, he softened his tone.   _“We don’t have to go.  If you’re not feeling up to it—“_

“No, no,” he interrupted.  “I’ll go.  It’ll be fun.  But I have to ask Helen and Gabe first.  Gimme a sec.”  He set the phone on his bedside table and went back downstairs.

“That was quick,” Gabe commented.  

Philip rubbed the back of his neck.  “Yeah, uh, it was Lukas.  He wants to take me to a party tonight.”

“Ah,” said Helen.  “Need any money?”

Philip was somewhat surprised.  “Um.  I don’t think so.  So, I can go…?” he asked, unsure.  

“Only on the condition that you stay out of trouble.”

“Oh.  Okay.  Thanks.”  He managed a smile and made for the stairs again.

“And Philip?”  He turned expectantly.  “We know we can’t stop you from drinking, but just use your best judgment, okay?”

He nodded and ran up the stairs two at a time.  “Lukas?” he said when he made it to the phone, out of breath. 

Lukas feigned a snore.   _“Oh, you’re back.  I was worried you wouldn’t make it back by graduation.”_

“Ha, ha,” he said sarcastically.  

_“So, what’s the verdict?”_

“I can go.  You’re sure she invited both of us?”

_“Jeez, do I need to send you the screenshot?  She specifically said she wanted you and me both to be there.”_

“Okay, okay, fine.  Let’s go.”

 _“Sweet!  Be there in ten.”_  The line clicked and Philip sighed.  He and Rose had shared a moment while Lukas was in a coma, and she had even hugged him, but it was an emotionally charged situation.  

She didn’t out them, and he was grateful for that.  Lukas and Philip got to do that themselves in Red Hook.  But her silence didn’t erase the way she treated him before.

On the other hand, maybe she actually considered the two of them to be friends now.  He could do with another friend.  He changed into a black shirt and dark-wash jeans, not wanting to stand out when he got there. 

His heart leapt in excitement and nervousness when he heard the unmistakable sound of Lukas pulling up on his motorbike.  

He said goodbye and hurried out, almost missing Helen’s calls of “Be careful!” and “Don’t stay out too late!”

Lukas pulled off his helmet and kissed Philip hello without getting off his bike.  “You ready?” he asked, handing over a helmet.  Philip kissed him again in response and they put their helmets on.  He laced his arms around Lukas’s waist and they took off.

“She said to go straight to the backyard,” Lukas told him once they arrived.  He slung an arm around Philip’s waist and they approached the gate.  They caught Rose’s eye and she jogged up to meet them, opening the gate.  

“Hey guys!” she said, excited.  She threw her arms around Lukas’s neck, and Philip averted his eyes when he saw she was only in shorts and a bikini top.  She released Lukas and hugged Philip as well.  “Philip, you came!”

He wrapped an arm around her awkwardly.  “Uh, yeah,” he said sheepishly and she beamed at him.  He assumed she was already tipsy.  

 _“Cannonball!”_ he heard someone shout behind her.  There was a mighty splash, and Philip’s gut twisted.

“Lukas, can I talk to you for a second?” he asked him through gritted teeth.  He pulled him by his wrist over to the side.

“Whoa, hey, now I know what you’re thinking—“

“You took me to a _pool party?”_

“I didn’t know!  I swear I didn’t know, Philip.  Look, half the people aren’t even swimming anyway.  I’ll sit with you.”

Philip folded his arms, biting the inside of his cheek.  Lukas stepped toward him and rubbed his hands up and down the sides of Philip’s arms.  “Come on.  We’ll sit by the pool, have a few drinks.  Maybe make out a little,” he added, poking him in the stomach.  

A laugh escaped Philip’s lips, prompting Lukas to poke and tickle him further.  “Come on, you know you want to,” Lukas sang.

“Okay, okay, just stop poking me already,” Philip managed between laughs.  

“Sweet.”  Lukas took his hand and pulled him over to an empty pool chaise, picking up a couple of beers on the way.  It was dark outside save for the patio and pool lights, but Philip could tell that some people were staring at them.  Lukas told him he didn’t care anymore, but he worried how true that was.  “Hey,” he said, trying and failing to twist the cap off his beer bottle.  “It’s okay, dude.”

“Having trouble there, Lukas?” Rose said, sauntering up to them and plopping down on the adjacent lounge.  

 _“No,”_ he lied.  Philip took the bottle from him and opened it in one fluid motion, taking a swig before handing it back.  Lukas looked briefly offended, and then impressed.  “That’s hot.”  Philip shrugged and opened his own bottle, taking a sizeable gulp.

Lukas threw an arm around Philip’s shoulders and kissed him on the shell of his ear.  Trying to conceal his shiver, he looked up at Rose.  “So, how have you been?”

“I’m good!” she said happily, bobbing her head up and down.  “You know Nathan?”  She jabbed a thumb behind her at a tall brunet boy playing beer pong.  

“Um, yeah,” he answered, a bit uncomfortable.  He didn’t know much about him other than that he was a douche.  He’d never directly picked on him, but he’d laughed along with the other bullies.  “What about him?”

“I heard he’s gonna ask me out tonight.”

“Oh.”  He really didn’t know what to say to that. 

Luckily, Lukas took over.  “You gonna say yes?”

She shrugged.  “I’m thinking about it.  Maybe.”  She chewed on her lip for a moment before asking, “What about you guys?  How are you?”

Philip looked down.  “We’ve been better,” Lukas supplied.  “But I think things are looking up.”  

“That’s good,” she said earnestly.  “And your relationship?  It’s going well?”

Philip blushed and nodded.  “Yeah, it is.”

“I’m so happy for you guys!” she giggled.  He breathed a sigh of relief at that.  He’d always felt a little guilty about going behind her back with Lukas, even if she wasn’t always kind to him.  

“Hey, Lukas!” called a blond boy from the pool.  “You gonna swim with us or do we have to push you in?”

“No thanks, Graham.  Push me and I’ll kick your ass!”  Rose and Philip chuckled at them.  

“Come on, dude.  It’s heated and shit!”

“Oooh, heat and shit.  Now I _have_ to get in,” he joked.  “I don’t even have a swimsuit.” 

Philip felt mildly guilty about keeping Lukas from the pool.  He knew not having a swimsuit wouldn’t keep him out of the water on a normal day; he was just sitting out for him.  He nudged Lukas in the side.  “Hey,” he whispered.  “You can go.  It’s okay.”  He smiled as honestly as he could.

“But—“ Philip stopped him by sliding a hand up his shirt, tracing his muscles.  

“Really, it’s cool.  I can just watch.”  His voice turned husky and Lukas nearly melted under him.  

“Well.  When you put it that way…”  He stood up and took his shirt off, giving Philip a smug look.  He rolled his eyes in jest and watched hungrily as Lukas stepped out of his jeans.  Someone in the background wolf-whistled at him, causing a few others to cheer.  

He stepped over to the edge of the pool and stretched his arms.  Turning his head back, he threw a wink at Philip and dove into the pool.  He emerged moments later and rested his arms on the pool’s edge.  “How was that?”  Rose put on a mock-haughty face and clapped regally.

“Six out of ten,” Philip said.  

“What!?” Lukas called, offended. 

“Wear white next time!”  At that, Rose threw her head back and laughed.  Lukas splashed at him, the water narrowly missing him.  “Hey!”  He took his phone out of his pocket and set it on a little table nearby to keep it from getting wet in case Lukas decided to splash him again.  

He leaned back in his chair and watched the lights change colors in the water.  He turned his head at a scraping sound; Rose was pulling her own chair closer to his.  She leaned back as well, looking at him with bright eyes.  He held back a laugh.  “What?”

“Nothin’,” she said breezily.  Her expression faded into one of remorse.  “Actually… I wanna say something.”  He looked at her expectantly and gestured for her to continue.  “I’m sorry for the way I treated you.”

“Oh, uh—“

“Yeah, I know.  You don’t have to forgive me or anything.  I just wanted to say I’m sorry.  Lukas just made it seem like—well, it’s no excuse.  And hey, if anyone gives you guys trouble, I’ll set ‘em straight,” she said with a smile.  

Philip smiled back, turning to look at Lukas playing Chicken with a few of his friends.  He couldn’t imagine that a girl that small could do much damage, but he didn’t question her.  “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”  They lapsed into a comfortable silence, occasionally cheering for Lukas as he wrestled a muscular girl.  After an intense match, she knocked him off of his partner’s shoulders, earning a mixed response from the crowd.  Lukas dipped under the water in shame and glided back to the deep end to talk to Philip and Rose at the ledge again.

“That was rough,” Philip laughed.  

“I swear to God, she’s on steroids or something.”

“No way, she beat you fair and square!” Rose chimed in.

“Whatever,” he pouted.  Philip stood up and walked over to him, crouching and brushing his soaked hair out of his face.

“Took a real blow to your pride there, huh?”

 _“No,”_ he protested, pushing himself halfway up out of the water to steal a kiss from Philip.

“Damn, Lukas.  What happened back there?”  Philip turned to the voice behind him.  It was Nathan.  He inwardly groaned, but if he could give Rose a chance, he could give this guy a chance too. 

“I got screwed, that’s what happened,” he said pointedly.  

“So he says,” Philip added, and Nathan laughed. 

“Yo, Philip, you’re not getting in the pool?”

“Not really my thing,” said Philip evasively.  

“Aw, come on.  Hey Katie, pass me a beer!” he shouted across the yard.  A bottle came flying toward them, but Nathan being drunk as he was missed it by a mile.  It rolled off the ground and into the pool, sinking to the bottom.   “Ah, shit,” he slurred.  Rose giggled behind her hand. 

“Nice,” she and Lukas said at the same time.

Philip snorted, daring to stand up and lean over to get a look at the bottle underwater.  

Lukas rolled his eyes.  “I’ll get it.”  He dove under and Philip watched him swim to the bottom.

“Damn, how deep is this pool?”

“About twelve feet,” Rose said.  

“Wow.  Doesn’t look like it from here.”

“You should see for yourself,” Nathan said, smirking. 

Before Philip could even blink, he was being shoved right into the deep end of the pool.  The last thing he heard was a few gasps and some startled laughter, and Nathan’s chortling above all.  He hit the water hard, and he was plummeted into darkness.  

He was instantly thrown into panic mode, and for a moment, his vision went black.  The stifled sounds of the party were replaced with a ringing in his ears, and he could no longer tell which way was up.  He failed his arms about, creating a torrent of bubbles around him, further impeding his eyesight.

He felt like he had been under for hours, he couldn’t breathe.  His lungs burned and his eyes darted around looking for the pool lights.  He quickly developed tunnel vision and he _didn’t know what to do._  He gripped the sides of his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

 _“I’m sorry, honey,”_ he heard a sweet, familiar voice say.  It was far away, like a distant memory.   _“You’re safe, now.”_  

He felt lithe arms wrap around his waist, yanking him upwards.   _Mom?_ he thought.

He felt the water break over him and he was finally permitted a breath of air.  He saw Rose hovering worriedly, and Nathan was next to her with guilt plastered all over his face.

“I’m sorry, man,” he stammered.  “I didn’t know—“

Philip began to cough uncontrollably, water spurting from his mouth.

“Come on,” the voice of his savior said.  Lukas.  He used the ledge to guide them both to the shallow end and he hoisted them both out of the pool.  Rose was at their side with towels in an instant. 

“Here.  My parents aren’t home, just go inside.”

Philip was shaking, eyes wide and breathing heavily.  Lukas draped a towel over his shoulders and pulled him close.  He led him into the house, whispering comforting words softly in his ear.  Once inside, he led Philip to the brick ledge in front of the fireplace and flipped a switch on the mantle.

A fire came to life behind him and Lukas was back at his side in an instant.  “Philip?  Are you okay?”  He couldn’t respond.  He was still back there, under the water.  He shivered incessantly, and not because he was cold.  “Philip? Hey.”  Philip unwillingly let out a mangled sound like a sob and put his head between his knees, trying to keep from hyperventilating.  

Lukas rubbed soothing circles on his back.  “I’m gonna kill him,” Lukas muttered. 

Philip pressed his palms to his forehead and shook his head.  “No,” he breathed.  “No, don’t do that.  I’m okay,” he lied.  He sounded like he was being strangled.  

“You’re a shit liar.  When I came back up and you weren’t there I nearly tore him a new one.”

“How sweet of you,” he managed sarcastically in a shuddering breath.  

“You should’ve seen Rose’s face,” he said with a smile.  “I yelled at him, and when she realized what Nathan did, she was _pissed._  It’s probably safe to say she won’t be going out with him.”

“So, what?  You told them I can’t swim?” he asked hoarsely.

“Nah.  She saw how mad I was and I think she figured it out from there.  But I think they know you can’t swim now anyways.”

Philip smirked tightly.  “Yeah.  Great.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Lukas said, patting his back.  “Hey, I can teach you!” he offered hopefully. 

“No.”

“It’ll be fun,” he said back in a sing-song voice.

 _“No,”_ said Philip with finality.

Lukas looked down and sighed.  “Sorry.”

Philip looked up at him guiltily.  “No, I’m sorry.  Thanks for getting me out.”

“I think we’ve pretty much established that it’s my job to save you from near death.”  They smiled at each other, and Philip leaned his head against Lukas’s shoulder.  

They sat comfortably for awhile until Philip broke the silence.  “There was this one Fourth of July when I was a kid,” he began quietly.  “We went to a barbecue with some of mom’s friends and their kids; they were all older and bigger than me.”  He nuzzled further into Lukas’s neck.  “I didn’t know how to swim, obviously, so I stuck to the shallow end.”  

He swallowed and Lukas rubbed his thumb up and down Philip’s arm.  “A couple of those kids got me into the deep end.  They held my head under the water, and I couldn’t get them off of me.  They would hold me there even after I was inhaling the water.  Mom was inside the house, so she didn’t notice something was wrong until… well.”

“What happened then?” Lukas whispered.

“She held me.  Told me she was sorry, and that I was safe.”

“She was pretty cool,” he said lamely.

Philip sniffed.  “Yeah, she could be.”

Lukas changed the subject.  “Oh, shit.  Your phone wasn’t in your pocket, was it?”

“No, thankfully.  I’d feel horrible if Gabe and Helen had to buy me a new one.”

“Yeah…  Speaking of them, you want me to take you home?”

Philip felt bad.  “No, we can stay at the party if you want.”

Suddenly, it was like a light bulb went off over Lukas’s head.  “Actually,” he said seductively.  “My dad’s in Poughkeepsie tonight.”  He kissed Philip under his ear.  “We could just grab a couple of beers and go back to my place.”

Philip’s face flushed.  “I’ll need some clothes.”

Lukas grinned evilly.  “No you won’t.”

Philip smacked his chest and stood up, taking Lukas’s hand and pulling him up.  They walked back out hand-in-hand and gathered their belongings, with Lukas sneaking a couple of bottles from a cooler and putting his clothes back on.

Rose came running up to them.  “Oh my god, Philip, I’m so sorry.  Nathan is such a—“

“It’s not your fault,” he said, stopping her.  

“We’re gonna head out,” Lukas said.  

Rose looked disappointed, but she didn’t keep them.  She pulled Philip in for a hug first.  “Next time won’t be a pool party.”  She pulled away to hug Lukas.

“Next time?” Philip asked.  Lukas gave him a complete “I-told-you-so” look over Rose’s shoulder before she whipped around.

“Uh, yeah!  Of course!” she said, as if she couldn’t have been more obvious.  “You better be there.”

“Oh, um.  Okay.”  He laughed a little.  

“Good.  I’ll see you when you come back to school, yeah?  If it doesn’t intrude on your love-fest, you guys should sit with us at lunch.”

Lukas snorted.  “Yeah, we’ll see.  Bye, Rose.”

Philip waved and they left, mounting Lukas’s bike.  “Told ya,” Lukas said smugly.

“Shut up.”

Lukas snickered.  “Put your helmet on so we can go and get you out of those clothes.”

Philip rolled his eyes but put it on without protest, and they sped off to Lukas’s house.

**Author's Note:**

> how was that? let me know of any typos. team rose all the way! leave kudos and comments to let me know how I'm doing! 
> 
> come talk to me at plaidphilkas.tumblr.com :)


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